The Nanny
by Llmav
Summary: One eventful summer.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N; New story. Rated M but NOT non-stop smut. There will be some, though. Down the line. I occasionally get the itch to throw in an actual story line, and this is one of those occasions. I write a lot of smut, but sometimes I need a bit of a break from it.**

**This one kind of has a slow start, but bear with me because I think I kind of like it.**

**Let me know what you think. I'm _always_ open for suggestions.**

She slammed the door to the backseat of the semi-clean cab closed behind her, mentally bracing herself as the scorching Miami heat immediately engulfed her, the sun rays peaking through the few scattered clouds and prickling her skin like steaming hot needles.

She sighed.

She should be used to it by now. After all, she had grown up in the oversized sauna that was the second biggest city of the sunshine state.

She had been there since birth.

Had. Never. Left.

Like _ever_.

She ignored the line of cars that instantly formed behind the cab that had apparently, and unbeknownst to her, pulled over in a no stopping zone. She wasn't surprised, it was painstakingly clear that the driver _may_ not have a valid license and _definitely_ wasn't completely up to date on the current traffic laws. The short ride to the airport had been the longest of her life, the balding older man unashamedly speeding, giving another definition to the concept of _rush_ hour as he was seemingly participating in some type of improvised slalom competition, zig-zagging in and out of the heavy afternoon traffic.

Her fear of dying had never been stronger.

She was internally fighting off the impulse to stick out her tongue at the horn-honking, middle-aged man that was front-seating the car behind her, as he was currently sticking something else out at her.

His middle finger.

She would miss many things from her home town this summer, she was sure of it, but the overwhelming rudeness of the vast majority of its population was not one of them.

She pulled her more-than-likely overweight suitcase out of the trunk, with a bit more effort than she had anticipated when she had declined the taxi driver's assistance. She could already feel a thin layer of sweat forming on her forehead and as she began dragging the heavy bag towards the airport terminal entrance, she was eternally grateful that she had decided against wearing heels and had stuck to flats, her old and faithful companions.

Her suitcase was creating an annoying smattering noise against the uneven pavement as she pulled it towards the jam-packed airport terminal, dodging her fellow travelers in a similar fashion to that of the law-breaking taxi driver, standing in line to go through the revolving glass entrance doors as the long line got held up by the heavy flow of human traffic. She was quietly reflecting on the contradiction of people both dying to come to and dying to leave from the city she called home, as people were entering and exiting the enormous building in a never-ending stream, almost as if they were emotionless robots in a fast-paced, futuristic society.

She made her way inside, soon standing at the back of the lengthy line to the check-in counter, but it moved surprisingly fast, and within minutes she was face to face with a nervous looking young man who had clearly gotten the job based on qualifications rather than experience. He grimaced when placing her bag on the scale. She had absolutely _no_ intentions of paying the pricey overweight fee, and was quickly running through different plans of actions to get out of it in her head. She was horrible at flirting, so that was out the window, but she was a better actress than temptress and she played the damsel in distress pretty well. A few short minutes of pouting and fake sobbing later, her suitcase was rolling down the black, fast-moving belt along with hundreds of others, headed off towards various, exotic or less-exotic, destinations, her money still safely stashed away in her purse.

She swiftly moved through the security checkpoint, amazed by its efficiency and organization as those concepts were generally exceptions rather than rules in the large southern city.

As she approached her departing gate, she glanced at her watch and realized that she had an hour to kill before boarding. She slouched down on the uncomfortable plastic chairs, feeling her anxiety rise as she watched the airplanes taking off outside of the panoramic window. She had never flown before, and she wasn't sure whether she would like it or not. She had a fear of fear of flying, an anxiety one can only have be before experiencing something for the first time.

She tried to distract herself by people watching, mentally trying to guess where people were going and what the purpose of their trip was. Some of the people passing her were easy, almost as if not only their destination but also their mission in life was readily written on their foreheads. Others were more challenging, almost unreadable, and she quietly wondered which one of the categories _she_ would fit into, as even _she_ was unsure of exactly where she was going and what her purpose was.

Her back started to hurt, prompting her to rise and move towards the concession stand. She lazily eyed the covers of the numerous glossy magazines, but as she had skipped dinner, she decided to pick up some sugar-laden snacks instead.

She was a fan of eating.

The girls on those magazine covers were clearly not.

The boarding call signaled the arrival of the all time peak of her anxiety, and she was nervously fidgeting with the zipper of her carry-on as she moved through the walkway leading to the aircraft, saying a quiet prayer that she would still be alive to once again set foot on Florida land by the end of the summer as she stepped into the huge airplane, soon locating her aisle seat. She was sitting next to an older woman, something about her made her think of her mom, and she suddenly missed Penny more than usual.

It had been more than just awhile since she had seen her.

As the airplane took off, she felt her stomach churn, from both anticipation and anxiety as she was equally and simultaneously excited and nervous.

She was on her way.

The adventure had started.

There was no turning back.

...

It had been her father's idea, or maybe rather an encouraging suggestion.

He had received a phone call from an old acquaintance of his, asking if he knew of anyone who would be interested in a temporary, short-noticed summer-long nanny position.

She was still unsure of how her father knew Mr. Moon, the father of the children that she was now set to take care of for the major part of her summer break. Lester had given her a very shortened version of a backstory, something about college and business connections, but in all honesty, she hadn't really paid attention or cared to ask questions, as the prospect of making new memories, seeing new places and simultaneously make some much needed cash was being waved in front of her eyes like winning lottery tickets.

Less than a week later, she was on her way. She didn't have much experience with children but she figured it wouldn't be a far stretch from taking care of her father.

She fed him. Cleaned up after him. Loved him.

Occasionally, it was difficult to decipher who was the parent in their relationship.

To his benefit, he tried hard. He _worked_ hard. Ever since her mother had left, it had just been the two of them.

She would be lying if she said that she wasn't a little worried about how he would manage to get through this summer without her.

She had just completed her sophomore year of college, enjoying it as much as anyone would. She liked school.

Overall, she had a good life. A _comfortable_ life.

Fun. Friends. Freedom.

Uncomplicated.

She usually spent her summer breaks working at her father's store, but she knew, even if her father tried to hide it from her, that the store was barely making a profit and she also knew that any additional money she could bring in would be enormously appreciated, even if her father was way too proud to admit it.

She was going to miss him. A lot.

Him and Trish.

Trish was her bestest friend in the whole wide world. They had known each other since kindergarten, and she could care less that they were now way too old to use words like 'bestest'.

She was pretty certain that some day, the two of them would be buried side by side.

Trish was the sister she didn't have. The cheese to her macaroni. The bun to her hot dog.

Perfect compliments, although in many aspects, they couldn't be more different.

Trish was a romantic, _she_ was a realist. Trish would kiss a frog in hope that it would turn into a prince, while _she_ would most likely chase it away with a stick or possibly run it over with her car. Both forwards and backwards.

Trish fell in and then out of love on a weekly basis, while she had never done either.

Attraction, sure. Flings, of course. Drunken hook-ups, a couple.

But emotions, actually _feeling_ something, none.

She was clueless as to why. Sometimes she blamed it on her parents' messy divorce, but she consistently wondered if something was wrong with her, like maybe she was missing the anatomical parts that were supposed to host the love gene or something. She wasn't entirely sure where it was supposed to be located, maybe the heart or the head.

Perhaps both.

She often described herself as having a dead heart, but it bothered Trish so much when she would say it out loud, that they had had several lengthy discussions with Trish attempting to prove her wrong through the argument that there were _many_ people whom she loved, albeit in non-romantic and non-sexual ways.

That, and that she was too young to be cynical and too pretty to be dead inside.

They had finally settled on her heart not being _dead_, but rather deeply asleep.

Comatose.

She had a comatose heart.

...

She awoke with a jolt as the airplane descended on the runway, in mild shock that she had not just managed to fall asleep but _stay_ asleep for the over five hour long flight. She was grateful that she had knocked out as her fear of having a fear of flying had clearly been unfounded.

As it turned out, the scariest part of her trip so far had been that ungodly taxi ride.

She exited the large sized jet, catching a glimpse of her new, temporary home state through the small airplane window as it was greeting her welcome with a breathtakingly beautiful, red and orange-painted, early evening sky.

So _this_ was southern California.

She collected her luggage, heading towards exiting the terminal within minutes. She had been informed that someone would meet her to drive her to the final destination, and she was quietly praying that _this_ taxi driver would at least have a valid license.

As she approached the exit, she spotted a man, impeccably clad in some sort of uniform looking outfit, soon realizing that he was holding up a sign.

"_Ms_ _Dawson_."

It took her a minute.

Oh, right. That was _her_.

So formal.

She wasn't used to it.

She almost giggled. Did people actually _do_ that? She felt as if she was part of a movie, which she guessed was kind of fitting as she was currently only a few miles away from the Mecca of filmmaking, also known as Hollywood.

They exited, the driver taking care of her bag, and she sighed in contentment as the soft and oh so perfectly temperatured wind danced along her bare arms.

She climbed into a fancy car that was clearly fit for royalty, but her reflection in the spot free window let her know that she was anything but. Her clothes were wrinkled. Her hair was a mess. _She_ was as mess.

Clearly, traveling in style wasn't her thing.

Soon they were off, her observing the landscape through the car window as they swished through the dreamlike scenery, completing the hour long, southbound drive in what felt like mere seconds. It was too short, because although Miami was beautiful in its own right, she had never seen anything like this.

The car slowed down while driving through some large-sized, automated gates, entering a small-sized beachside community. She could almost feel the exclusivity vibrating through the neighborhood and it made her uncomfortable without her really knowing why.

The car came to a stop, and she climbed out, the now evening air almost chilly against her hot skin as she thanked the driver who was holding the door open for her. He looked surprised, almost as if he wasn't used to people actually noticing him.

She didn't bother trying to get her suitcase out by herself, mostly because she had a weird premonition that the driver simply wouldn't allow her to. Within seconds, the bag was situated next to her on the large steps leading up to what she could only think of to describe as a mansion.

She stalled on the big steps for a few moments, swallowing hard as she was suddenly terrified.

Be _calm_. Be _yourself_.

She could _do_ this.

She took a deep breath before she climbed the few steps, rang the doorbell of what was to be her home for the next two months, a sound reminiscent of a jingle flooding her ears.

It sounded oddly familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on where she might have heard it before.

She almost anticipated a butler or something of that sort to open the door, and was oddly surprised when a petite woman, at first glance not seeming to be much older than herself, opened the giant wooden door instead.

She looked like a carbon copy of the magazine cover girls that she had glanced at just hours prior.

"Come on in."

She stepped into the house and into her new life.

The woman was eyeing her as she was standing in the enormous foyer, almost suspiciously so and she felt weird, as if she was being accused of breaking into a home that she had in fact been invited into.

For the first time since she left, she wished she would have worn those damn heels, because despite the fact that the slender blonde was mere inches taller than herself, she had never felt smaller.

After what felt like an eternity, she extended her perfectly manicured hand.

"Welcome. I'm Mrs. Moon. _Cassidy_."

"Ally Dawson."

Her hand was warm but her eyes were cold as they were still evaluating her.

She couldn't help but stare back, but she felt like a timid mouse observing a starving cat.

She realized that most parts of the blonde's body looked 10 years younger than what she probably was, and at first she had had her fooled.

She was most likely in her early 30s.

It was her eyes that gave her away, because they looked 10 years older than her presumed actual age.

She tried to but failed to locate a single strand of misplaced hair on her head.

Her shoes alone were probably worth as much as the entire content of her overstuffed suitcase.

She reminded her of a mannequin. A perfect surface, a fake smile, dead eyes and quite possibly an empty inside.

"It's so nice to finally meet you. Thank you for being able to make it with such short notice. Let me show you around. You can leave your bag here." Cassidy's voice kicked her off of her train of thoughts.

She nodded, a little taken aback at her sudden warmness as they began moving throughout the bottom floor of the two-story building.

Spacious didn't cover it, ginormous was the only word that would do.

The tour almost reminded her of what she could only imagine a sightseeing throughout some old, ancient, countryside castle would be like, and she half-expected someone popping out with a golden crown on their head.

It was nice, just so...much. _Too_ much.

They passed a big room, full to the brim with toys, books and various sports equipment.

"The playroom. The kids and I spend a lot of time in there."

"What about Mr Moon?" She almost bit her tongue as she could almost feel the tension radiating off of the skinny blonde.

"You won't see him much. He's working. A _lot_." Her voice was ice.

She realized that she had no idea what her now boss did for a living, but she guessed that him working hard made sense.

A mansion like the one that she was currently standing in the center of didn't come cheap.

After a few more minutes of sightseeing, her head spinning from information and observations, they came to a stop outside of a large wooden door.

"This will be your room. I like to keep our help downstairs, I hope you don't mind."

She shook her head although she was unsure of whether it was a question.

"I will let you unpack. I'll show you the upstairs tomorrow."

She nodded. "Where are the children?" She had suddenly remembered why she was there.

"In the kitchen. With the housekeeper. Come join us when you're finished so that you can meet them."

She nodded in agreement, and the fake smile returned to Cassidy's face.

She realized that the woman had no real facial expressions. Well, one. Always the same one.

Life in plastic. It's fantastic.

She turned around, and somehow, her suitcase had magically been placed in what was apparently now her room.

Housekeeper.

Right.

She looked around. It wasn't a room, it was a full-blown suite, complete with a big bathroom and ocean view. It was beautiful, undoubtedly the work of an overpriced but clearly talented interior decorator.

The large, king-sized bed in the middle room was begging to be slept in and as she involuntarily yawned, she realized that due to the time difference, it was already late night in Miami.

She opened up her beat up suitcase, placing the carefully folded clothes into the drawers and onto the hangers in the matter of a few minutes.

Well, that didn't take long.

Despite the overweight, she only manage to fill a ridiculously small portion of the too large walk-in closet.

She walked around the rest of the space. There were two large sized glass doors, leading out to the over-sized infinity pool. It was already dark outside, but she could almost perfectly visualize how amazing it would look during the day.

She could make out the contour of another house not to far away, maybe a couple of hundred yards, and she realized it was a pool house. It was probably the size of her regular house, heck probably bigger, and had it not been for the thick curtains being pulled shut in its large windows, she could have seen right into it.

She needed to remember to pull her curtains shut when she was changing, or she would be flashing whomever would have the displeasure (or perhaps pleasure, depending on how you were looking at it) to be standing by the pool. Or inside the pool house.

She was oddly intrigued when she saw a small light flickering to life behind the pulled closed curtain, but it was killed again almost immediately.

Weird.

She changed quickly, then leaving the room and walking towards the kitchen that she had only passed by on her previous tour.

She could hear the voices of small children as she approached the open door, but they quieted down as soon as she entered. She smiled as her eyes landed on two small figures.

She thought she remembered that they were around seven or so. Twins.

The girl was blonde, even blonder than her mother, and she had lost her front teeth, looking adorable as she was flashing her a shy, toothless smile. Her brother seemed even more shy, hiding behind his sister, and it was clear that they had a close sibling relationship, the type she had often wished that she had had but futilely so as she was an only child.

She approached them, bending down on her knees so that she could introduce herself at their eye level. "I'm Ally."

The girl smiled. "I'm Tilly. And this is Nelson." She pointed to her brother.

"Do you want to see my drawing?"

They sat down by the table, chit-chatting for a few minutes as Nelson and Cassidy both observed them, the former shyly and the latter cautiously.

"You're so pretty, Ally." Tilly's voice reminded her of a dolls, if they had had voices.

She blushed. She wasn't used to compliments from stranger.

Cassidy's voice startled her. "She is, isn't she?" Ice. Ice ice ice.

She had no idea of what to answer, as for some reason she felt that the compliment was anything but. She desperately thought of something else to say to change the topic.

"So, who stays in the pool house?"

Cassidy's entire demeanor changed, from fake-nice to freezing, and she was pretty sure, that if she _could_ have shown emotions it would be one of disgust. It was almost as if she had asked about Hansel and Gretel's gingerbread house, the person residing in the pool house being the evil witch, and _she_ had just asked for a piece of forbidden candy.

"My stepson. You need to stay away from there, away from him. Believe me, I am doing you a favor. He is the single-handed reason as to why our last two nannys left. If I found out that there is anything going on between the two of you, and I mean _anything_, you will be on the next flight back to wherever you came from. He has the same instructions, but I don't expect him to follow them. He never does."

Wow. She hadn't even met the guy and she already disliked him.

Cassidy continued. "If you're lucky, you won't see him around much. He's usually too busy to play the role of rich and spoiled playboy to have the time to grace us with his holy presence. But _believe_ me, there are plenty of other nice boys around here to entertain you when you're not working. We will introduce you to _everyone_ that matters." The fake almost smile was back.

She didn't bother explaining that her heart was out of order, on an undetermined hiatus.

It may come off as weird.

A yawn escaped her and she was instantaneously embarrassed.

Cassidy gave her a look that she was pretty certain to be intended as sympathetic.

"Go get some rest. You must have had a long day. I do expect you to wake up with the twins in the morning. I'm not a morning person. And just so you know, they like to get up early."

She nodded. She honestly didn't mind. After all, that's what she was there for.

She said goodnight, heading back towards her room and deciding to take a bath in the oversized bathtub. She was generously filling it with the expensive bath salts before descending into the hot heaven, her whole body relaxing almost instantly, and yet she was suddenly filled with the eerie feeling that this was the calm before the storm.

She changed into her PJs, climbing on top of the devine bed, the many pillows like cotton under her heavy head. her exhaustion in combination with the amazing softness proved to be a lethal combination, and she quickly dozed off, images of castles and pillow heavens and fairy tales filling her head until she fell asleep, then seeping into her sweet dreams like slow-flowing, delicious syrup.

...

She awoke, startlingly, momentarily disoriented as she failed to recall where she was at.

Plastic castle. Right.

Were the twins here to wake her up already?

It was still dark, but she was pretty sure that someone had opened the door, although her ears failed to detect the sound of the pitter-patter of small feet and she couldn't see anything as her eyes were still adjusting to the darkness.

Weird.

Her thoughts were interrupted as something, _someone_, threw themselves on the bed and inadvertently on top of her.

She screamed out of reflex, probably more so than out of fear, and the large body jumped up out of possibly both.

"Sorry. I'm so sorry." It was a raw voice, undoubtedly masculine, and she involuntarily scrunched her nose as a faint smell of some sort of alcohol uninvitingly hit her nostrils before the large-sized shadow got out of the bed and moved swiftly back towards the door.

All she could see in the faint light seeping in through the large window was a mop of messy blond hair and a tall, most likely above 6 feet, frame reopening the door and exiting her room as quickly as he had entered.

She laid back down, trying to go back to sleep but it was impossible as her pulse was speeding, her heart beating uncontrollably out of her chest for minutes after his departure as she was unable to calm it down.

It was almost as if the unexpected nighttime visitor hadn't just woken _her_ up, but also her comatose heart.

...

_**Thank you Sandi for the name suggestions.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N; I'm sorry it took me so long to get this second chapter up. I don't really have any good excuses other than the fact that I've been really distracted by writing other things. ****I've been more motivated to write one-shots as of late. ****It won't be as long until the next chapter, though. **

**I promise.**

** I think this story will be between 8-10 chapters long and the next one is already halfway done and should therefore be up remember that this one is a bit slower.**

**This is rated M for a reason, but it does have more of a story to it, because this version of Ally is not just going to fuck Austin on a whim in a laundry room, or in a bar, or on an airplane, or in a bathroom, or on a train, or...I think you get the point.**

**Sorry if it's _too_ slow...it will pick up.**

**Eventually.**

She was awake. She didn't _want_ to be, but she was.

The bed was comfortable underneath her. _Very_ comfortable. As a matter of fact, it was probably the most comfortable bed that she had ever slept in. Her whole body was instantly regretting her mind's decision of waking up; but she had this odd feeling, not so much a physical but rather a mental uncomfortableness, an unfamiliar yet creepy inkling that she was somehow being observed.

Her head was spinning like the large fan in the high-rise ceiling, as it took her a few seconds to recall where she was as at, the previous day (and night) quickly replaying in her jumbled mind.

She soon realized that two sets of eyes, almost identical, small, blue and piercing, were looking at her from each side of the very large bed, and she almost fell out of it.

So she _was_ being observed.

"We're hungry." Tilly's voice almost echoed throughout the large suite.

Right.

The twins.

She was the _nanny_.

What time was it? The room was still dark, but as the thick curtains were closed shut, it was hard to tell what was going on in the outside world.

She got out of bed and moved the curtains, and the bright morning sunlight filled the room.

It apparently wasn't as early as she had thought.

She entered the bathroom and brushed her teeth, quickly, internally cursing at herself for unintentionally sleeping in, and making a mental note to set the alarm from now on.

It would be nice to be able to get dressed in the morning without spectators.

One half of the short twosome was quietly observing her, the other half observing her but not quietly. Tilly's shyness from the previous day had clearly disintegrated over night.

The little blonde was apparently a bit of a blabber mouth.

But she was cute.

She decided to wait to get dressed, soon entering the huge kitchen still in her pajamas, with the children trailing closely behind her.

She was surprised to see that Cassidy was in there, especially so as she had clearly informed her that she preferred to sleep in. She was in the process of inhaling some type of green-looking smoothie, and it looked like she was on the run, but she still somehow managed to have the same flawless appearance as she had had the previous night.

It was almost as if she had been sleeping upright, perhaps in one of those toy-doll display boxes, only changing her outfit but keeping her impeccable make-up and hairstyle the same.

The blonde finished her drink, setting down the now empty plastic container on the counter with a small noise before speaking.

"Good morning. Would you like anything to eat?" Polite. So polite. Too polite.

She shook her head. She wasn't really a breakfast person. "Just some coffee, please."

Cassidy gestured towards an advanced looking machine, located on top of the massive countertop while nodding in approval, as if not eating was a good thing, or something.

"Serve yourself. Our house is your house now."

Her statement was followed by a smile that was probably meant to be sweet.

"Thank you."

"I have to go, I have an...appointment. We have a chef that cooks lunch and dinner for us, but I will expect you to get breakfast together."

She nodded.

She could handle breakfast.

Hopefully.

The blonde reached into her purse and quickly threw her two sets of keys.

"It's to one of the cars and the golf cart. Just in case you want to take the kids somewhere."

She nodded again.

Cassidy was halfway through the kitchen when she turned around, obviously remembering something important.

"Oh, and stay away from the upstairs. I'll...I'll show you around when we find the time."

She nodded in agreement yet again, as she didn't know what else to do. She was already _way_ passed the point of questioning the decisions made by the rich and (as it seemed) powerful.

And with that her boss was gone, leaving a trail of too expensive perfume behind her, without as much as a glance towards the still tired-looking kids at the other side of the room.

She scanned the kitchen. It looked like something out of a god damn TV show. What would you possibly need all those little trinkets for? She could only recognize half of them, and she only knew the actual function of a handful of them.

The morning sunlight was flowing in through the tall window, the kitchen air notably dust-free and she could swear that she felt like the air was cleaner than what she was used to, almost so clean that it hurt her lungs.

Weird.

Breakfast.

Right.

What did wealthy children eat?

She rummaged through the large refrigerator for a minute, the way too many options making her indecisive, and she therefore turned towards the light-haired duo that was still observing her, this time around from their seats by the large kitchen table.

Maybe she should just ask them.

"What do you guys want to eat?"

They both looked at her with big, blank eyes, as if that wasn't a question that they were asked very often, almost as if they rarely got to make decisions by themselves.

Tilly answered first.

Surprise.

"We want cereal."

The two clearly had that twin telepathy thing that she had heard of going on, as Tilly seemed to be speaking for both of them, using plural forms more often than not.

They both looked hopeful but a bit cautious, as if she was going to decline their joint wish, and suddenly, there was nothing she could think of that she wanted to do more than feed those kids some darn cereal.

She opened a nearby cabinet, trying to locate the cereal box that must be there somewhere.

Even rich people ate cereal, right? Perhaps they were dipped in gold or something.

After three cabinets, she was ready to give up when she finally spotted a very average looking box of cereal, squeezed into the corner of the oversized storage space.

Yes.

Something normal, something regular, in a house that otherwise was anything but.

It was not a cheap, generic brand, _definitely_ name-brand, but regular cereal nonetheless.

For some reason, that made her disproportionally happy.

She filled up two small bowls, Tilly making sure that they were equally full before she poured in some milk. She couldn't find any kids' spoons, so they ended up eating their breakfast with some fancy silver ones, but perhaps it fit, as they were clearly born with them in their mouths.

She returned the jug of milk to the refrigerator, closing the door with a small bang, and then she screamed out loud as she realized that there was now something located behind it.

Something that she didn't quite recognize yet clearly recognized, something that was tall and blond, something that currently looked amused, almost as if scaring her half to death was entertaining, and she realized that the thing had dimples.

Nice ones.

"So, you must be the new nanny?" He had a nice voice, too.

"So you must be the step-son." She sounded defensive but only because she was.

He chuckled. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

She had only just met him, but she was pretty sure that he had the same annoying ability as Cassidy to _say_ one thing but _mean_ another.

Because he _clearly_ had meant to scare her.

She gave him a quick glance-over where he's stood, leaned up against the kitchen counter, that she was hoping he that didn't notice.

So this was _him_.

The notorious playboy.

The Moon family's apparent black sheep.

The one that she needed to stay away from in order to keep her much needed job.

Not that she wasn't planning on staying away from him, anyways.

She had to admit that he was as good-looking as she had somehow expected.

She wasn't surprised.

After all, the assholes usually were.

"So, you're the one to take _care_ of me..." There was no doubt that his voice was suggestive, and his eyes wouldn't leave hers.

She suddenly felt as if he had some type of x-Ray vision, as if he could see through not just her _clothing_ but also _her_ with those big, brown, smoldering, almost hypnotizing eyes.

She finally looked away after what felt like minutes but probably were mere seconds.

What was it with this family that made her feel so damn uncomfortable and unsure of herself?

Unsure and naked.

It was almost as if her long-sleeve pajama set was a skimpy piece of see-through lingerie, and he was _still_ looking at her as if he was more than willing to demonstrate how to take it off.

"I'm not sure that 20 year old, spoiled brats are my specialty."

She hadn't meant to sound so acid, but her first actual impression of him was turning out to be very similar to the less than fortunate reputation he seemingly deservedly had.

"Close to 21, actually. And then, what is your _specialty_?" He seemed completely unfazed by her insult, as if it was a truth that he had been told too many times or a reoccurring lie that he no longer bothered correcting.

She just shook her head, not sure of what to answer.

His small laughter was filling the room as he was now walking towards his younger siblings, greeting each of them with a big hug.

"I don't think I have ever seen you guys eat cereal before." He looked amused.

"Ally gave it to us." Tilly's voice was mischievous.

"She did, huh." He smiled at her now, a more genuine smile, a smile that made him look even more attractive. As if that was necessary.

"Nice to meet you, _Ally_." Her name rolled off of his tongue, as if she was some type of god damn fine wine, and he was trying her out to see if he liked the taste.

She had to give it to him. He was good at what he did. Whatever that was.

"I'm sorry about last night. I didn't know they had found a new nanny already. Sometimes, I crash in the guest room after a long night of partying."

She nodded, for some reason surprised that he had manners enough to apologize.

"That is, when I don't bring company home." Suggestive eyebrow wiggling followed.

Right. That was more along the lines of what she had expected.

"Well, I guess you're hunt yesterday was unsuccessful, then."

He laughed. "Not necessarily. After all, I _did_ get to spend some time on top of a beautiful girl, even though it only lasted a few seconds. I _guarantee_ you, next time it will last longer."

Sexual.

So damn sexual.

It made her uncomfortable as she wasn't entirely sure of how to respond.

And it made her uncomfortable for other reasons, too, that she absolutely refused to think about.

She was thankful, though, that her tendency to blush had diminished in strength over the past few years.

Did lines like that usually work for him?

He was way too cliche for her liking.

"Seems to me that your mom's warnings about you were well-founded."

The smirk on his face instantly froze.

"She's _not_ my mother." His voice had none of the playfulness that it, up until that point, had been generously colored with.

Shit.

So that was obviously a touchy subject.

Too touchy.

She had clearly hit a nerve that wasn't just sensitive but close to infected.

"Right. I'm...I'm sorry."

She was.

She knew first hand that the subject of mothers could be an emotional one.

He was smiling at her against almost instantly, and then he started to move towards the doorway, apparently ready to leave.

"No worries. I'll see you around, _Ally_."

And he was off, with an almost cheerful bounce in his step.

She turned to the twins who had now finished the bowls.

"So, what do you want to do today?"

Nelson didn't answer. Shocker.

Tilly immediately started off with some long tirade about Barbie and a dog and although she tried to follow, really, all she could make out if it was "Beach."

Crap. She hated the beach. She sighed as she realized that she might as well get used to it, though. They _did_ live in a beach mansion, after all.

...

An hour later, and she had finally managed to get all the things needed for a beach day packed into the golf cart.

The twins were strapped in in the backseat, the seat next to her packed with sunblock and toys and lunch and towels and only god knew what else.

It seemed like a day at the beach required more luggage than her entire months-long west coast stay.

Nelson still hadn't said a word to her. She started to wonder if he _ever_ spoke.

She started the cart, but was soon filled with frustration, as she couldn't get it to move. Not an inch. Not a millimeter.

She turned towards the backseat.

"How do you drive this thing?"

Nelson just looked at her in puzzled non-understanding. Tilly was talking away, about something completely of topic, her childish voice bouncing off the walls in the large garage, and for the first time she wished that the girl had a mute-button.

A few minutes later, and she almost cursed in exasperation as it for some reason had proved to be more difficult to drive a god damn golf cart than her actual car.

The golf cart was probably also more _expensive_ than her regular car, and she was suddenly a nervous mess, various scenarios of crashing the small vehicle into all sorts of things vividly crossing her mind.

He appeared out of nowhere, almost identical to his arrival in the kitchen earlier in the morning, and she screamed again. She really hadn't meant to, but he startled her.

How did he manage to do that? He was tall, unquestionably over six feet, and yet he was able to sneak up on her, like a freaking ninja, her heart yet again beating fast from the surprise.

Weird, it seemed to do that around him a lot.

"There's a break, you know." He was smiling now, but almost looking as if he was trying not to laugh out loud.

"What?" She hadn't really processed what he was saying as she was still in semi-shock.

He reached in over her, his arm rubbing up against hers as he leaned over the drivers seat and unhooked a hand break that she hadn't seen.

Skin to skin.

He probably did that on purpose.

Creep.

It felt kind of good in a non-good way.

Crap.

"There you go. Let me know of you need help with anything else."

How was it possible that _every_ single time she heard his voice, she automatically thought of how it would sound in the bedroom?

She had heard of bedroom eyes, but he had a bedroom voice.

Well, he had bedroom eyes too.

He was a bedroom _being_.

He reached into the back, ruffling his little brother's hair and she could have sworn that Nelson smiled for the first time since she had arrived there.

"Come with us to the beach, Austin." His sister sounded hopeful.

"Maybe next time, Tilly."

The little girl was pouting as he turned back towards her.

"Thank you". She sounded exactly as half-embarrassed and half grateful as she was.

"No problem."

She half-expected some sort of badly concealed, sexual innuendo that didn't come.

He started to walk away.

"Oh, and Ally?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't scratch it. There is a very strong possibility that Cassidy loves her toys more than her kids." He was nodding towards the golf cart and he was still smiling, but the look on his face made her understand that perhaps he wasn't completely joking.

She nodded, then giving him a semi-awkward wave that he returned as she was nervously pulling out of the garage.

...

She made it to the beach.

She freaking made it.

Without any scratches on neither of the children nor the cart.

Granted, it was a 5 minute ride. If even that.

But still.

She was proud.

Probably too proud.

It was an absolutely _beautiful_ day outside.

The sun was beaming, the sky blue, not a cloud to be seen as far as her eyes could see, and she suddenly felt oddly high on life as she scanned the long, sandy beach.

It was warm, but not the same scorching heat that she was used to, instead a pleasant one, the temperature just perfect, the small cooling breeze embracing her skin in a nice contrast to the hot rays.

Maybe the beach wasn't so bad, after all.

The area was by no means cluttered, but there were some people there, some younger children playing in the small ocean waves and some older kids making various structures in the sand.

Tilly was immediately enthused. "I want to build a sandcastle!"

She couldn't help but to laugh at the toothless girl's excitement.

"Of course we can. Nelson, do you want to help us?"

The boy just shook his head, not nearly as excited as his twin.

"I know! Let's build _our_ house." Tilly was already making plans.

She laughed again.

Calling that mansion a 'house' was a stretch, and said project was a bit ambitious.

Just a bit.

They spent the next 20 minutes constructing what became, by no means, an exact replica of the house-mansion, but a pretty damn good sandcastle nonetheless.

She high-fived Tilly, who hadn't stopped talking even for a full 10 seconds, before she looked around.

Something was missing.

Or rather, _someone_.

Where the hell was Nelson?

Panic ran through her as she continued to scan the small area, still unsuccessful at locating him.

Great. Fucking great.

She had been a nanny for what, 12 hours, and she had already managed to lose one of the kids.

Awesome.

A sigh of relief escaped her as she finally spotted him, a few hundred yards away, out in the shallow water, jumping over the small waves while holding someone's hand, a hand belonging to someone tall, someone blond, someone who had clearly changed his decision about not joining them at the beach.

She waved and yelled until he saw her, soon gesturing to her that he was going to bring Nelson over.

As he lifted the small boy up on his shoulders, the unfamiliar sound of Nelson's laugh traveled to her ears like sweet music.

Two girls approached her as she was standing by the shore, waiting, Tilly playing in the sand by her feet.

She had noticed that they had curiously eyed her for a few minutes, and it kind of made her uncomfortable.

It seemed like the whole damn community, or at least a vast percentage of its population, made her uncomfortable.

They were both pretty, both tanned, both slender and tallish, one blonde and one brunette.

"So you're the new Moon nanny." She noticed that the blonde's statement wasn't a question, and for a second she wondered how she had known, until she realized that she probably recognized the twins.

She nodded. "Yes. Nice to meet you. I'm Ally." She extended her hand.

The girls introduced themselves. The blonde was apparently named Piper and the seemingly less talkative brunette was Brooke.

Austin was getting closer now, still carrying Nelson on his broad shoulders, and she found that it was getting more difficult not to pay attention to his low-slung board shorts.

Crap.

His blond hair was sprinkled with salty sea-drops, his tanned body on full display and she noticed how two-out-of-three of the gathered female population was almost physically drooling at the...scenery.

"You're _so_ lucky." She got the feeling that Piper wasn't referring to her job as much as her house company.

That was _one_ way of looking at it, she guessed.

One person's curse _could_ be perceived as another person's blessing.

"Ladies." He was greeting _them_ but looking right at her.

Who spoke like that?

Brooke didn't say anything, and she wasn't entirely sure that the girl was even breathing.

"Austin." Piper was clearly still both speaking and breathing. That, and batting her eyes at him.

_She_ didn't have that seduction gene, but Piper seemed to have more flirtyness in her small pinky toe than she did in her whole entire being.

He reached to put a still laughing Nelson down on the sand. "Here you go."

"That was very sweet. I don't think I have heard him laugh before."

He shrugged. "I happen to be an excellent big brother." She knew he wasn't bragging, but simply being completely earnest, and it was probably the most real she had seen him all day.

"Well, thank you for your help. I got a bit a carried away with the sandcastle construction."

"I'm sure you can find _some_ way to pay me back."

He somehow managed to make her feel as naked as he had in the kitchen earlier in the morning, only difference was that now she _was_ practically naked, as her all but skimpy bikini suddenly felt a few sizes too small.

This time around, she couldn't really be upset about it, though, as she found herself ogling him as well. It wasn't very difficult to mentally undress him. Actually, it was probably more difficult _not_ to. He was only wearing one piece of clothing, after all.

So yeah, he was in good shape.

She guessed that it was fairly easy to find the time to stay in shape, though, when you didn't have a day-job. Or any job, for that matter.

His gaze wouldn't leave her, unashamedly running all over her body, and she knew that he lingered a little too long in certain places, but by the look on his face it seemed like he could care less if she noticed.

She kind of hated the fact that she didn't hate having his eyes on her.

Because she knew that she should.

He was a predatory cat.

And duh, she was the mouse-prey that he wanted to chase.

It would be better, _smarter_, to hide, she _knew_ that, because said chase would undoubtedly end in her untimely death.

Yet, she was oddly curious as to what the thrill of it would feel like.

He was still smirking as he turned to walk away.

"Bye, ladies." He was still only looking at her.

Piper waved at him and Brooke looked like she was about to faint.

Piper turned to her.

"Good luck. You're _clearly_ going to need it. See you around Ally."

And then the two of them walked away as well.

...

They returned to the mansion, hours later, after spending almost the whole day at the beach, all three of them seemingly exhausted.

She sighed as she lugged the too many things back into the house-mansion.

But it had been a good day.

Being a nanny was kind of fun.

...

They had a quick dinner that the chef had prepared.

Cassidy was a no-show and she realized that she still hadn't met Mr. Moon.

She put the twins to sleep, both of them passing out quickly, then going back to her room, ready for an early night as she hadn't completely adjusted to the time difference.

It had been a long first day.

She moved to close the thick curtains, when, almost as if on cue, the small light in the opposing pool house window flickered to life, catching her attention and holding it, almost as if it was a guiding light in the otherwise darkening evening that she was starting to feel a bit lost in.

It looked cozy, probably more of a home than the mansion she was currently situated inside of.

Why was he living in there?

Was it by choice, or was that the spot he was confined to, like a disobedient dog to a dog house?

She was getting lost in thoughts until the light turned off.

He was gone, probably out for another night on the prowl.

Not that she cared.

...

She woke up in the middle of the night, her throat dry and her whole body aching for something liquid.

She got up, headed for the kitchen, fumbling in the dark hallway but as she didn't want to wake anybody up, she decided against turning on the light.

She had just made it into the kitchen when then she literally ran into something. Something tall.

She let out a sound, possibly reminiscent of someone getting punched in the stomach (she really didn't know, she had never been in a fight, at least not a physical one.)

It was him. Of course.

He was close, too close, she could smell his cologne along with his alcohol-spiked breath, and she noticed that he was swirling a little. So he was drunk, or at least fairly intoxicated. That made two nights in a row. Not that it was any of her business, but anyways.

"What are you doing in here?" She sounded upset, before she realized that he had as much of, or perhaps more, of a right to be there as she did.

"Thinking."

Oh. For some reason she hadn't expected that.

"You scared me."

"There's no reason to be _scared_ of me. I'm likely only half as bad as Cassidy has told you. Probably twice as bad as the lame-ass guys that you're used to, though."

She didn't know what to answer, mostly because she suspected that that was the truth.

He was still standing too close to her, the air between them almost vibrating, and she knew that there was some type of physical attraction there, even though she didn't want to fully admit it.

"Well, thanks for not throwing yourself on top of me tonight."

He laughed, but it wasn't as carefree as the ones she had heard during the day.

"The next time that I'm in bed with you, it will be because you invited me."

Suddenly, he leaned in towards her, and her heart was beating fast, so so fast.

She had absolutely no idea of whether it was because she was nervous or because she was excited or because she wanted him to kiss her or because she did not want him to.

"Do yourself a favor and stay away from me." His voice was a loud whisper.

And with that, he turned around and exited.

She returned to her room, water glass in hand, her legs a bit shaky and her head once again spinning, almost as if she was the one who had been drinking a bit too much.

It took her a while to go back to sleep. Again.

She was bothered.

Bothered by the effect he had on her.

Bothered that she found him attractive.

Bothered that he intrigued her although she didn't like him.

But what _really_ bothered her was the uncertainty of what she would have done if he had actually tried to kiss her. She wasn't completely sure of whether she would have kissed him back, or if she would have slapped him hard across the face.

She was hoping for the latter but leaning towards the former.

Yep.

She was bothered.

...

The alarm ripped her from her all but sweet dreams.

She looked around. She was alone in the room for once.

She got up and moved the heavy curtains out of the way, wanting to allow the morning light of what was sure to become yet another beautiful day into the too dark room.

The outside view was beautiful, and she once again lingered for a few minutes.

She he was about to turn around, ready to get dressed and start her day, when she saw something move in the corner of her eye.

Something that made her heart beat faster than anything else during her trip so far.

At first, she thought that her eyes were deceiving her, but she just so happened to know that she had perfect vision. Trish had made her take an eye exam a couple of months prior, during the time that her best friend had had a short-lived job at an optometrist office.

And that's how she knew that what she saw was not an hallucination but reality.

The reality of Cassidy sneaking out of the pool house in the very early morning hour, quickly making her way towards the main house.

And suddenly, she almost forgot how to breath.


End file.
